


Prophecy of the Sisters - Part III - Where the Lily Flamed

by OnlyHisPrincess



Series: Prophecy of the Sisters [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2019-11-06 21:24:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17947391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyHisPrincess/pseuds/OnlyHisPrincess
Summary: Three sisters, a prophecy and the Winchester brothers.A continuation of Prophecy of the Sisters Part I & II. In order for this to make sense you want to read those first.----Prophecy, Fallout and Sparkly Goldfish





	1. Somebody Knows You Now

**Author's Note:**

> And here we go! Let's see if I can finish this thing off!

_***Two Months Ago***_

Quiet.

That was the first thing that struck Lily when she woke up.  It was startlingly, quiet.  The town she’d grown up in was a small one but it was still a town, with people and cars and businesses and all the noises associated with those.  But here…she lifted her head and glanced out the large window that took up the better half of one wall.  Here there were no city noises, no sounds that could be attributed to humans, which made sense since as far as Lily knew she was one of only two humans for miles.  No, the only noises at all were the chirping of birds and occasionally the rustling of the grass as an animal passed by.

With a soft sigh Lily let her gaze drift towards the other human.  Her eyes drifted over the tanned skin, the miles of lean muscles and soft, brown hair that was falling down over his face as he slept.  He was still soundly asleep and so Lily let herself look to her heart’s content with no audience.  She soaked in every detail of his face, let her eyes trace over the soft lips, the straight line of his nose, the strong chin.  _Sam_.  She heard the name in her mind as if it was a prayer.  God, she’s missed him.  She’s tried so hard not to, had done everything she could to put him out of her mind, to move on but it was useless.  You couldn’t move on from someone like Sam, from someone who made you question everything you’d thought about life, relationships, love.

As if feeling her eyes on him Sam stirred, his eyes blinking open slowly.  Lily watched as a cautious smile spread across his face. 

“Hey,” he said his voice soft in the still morning air.  Lily returned the smile, her own just as reserved.  “You sleep OK?”

Lily nodded.  “Best I have in weeks,” she admitted and Sam smiled for real this time, obviously touched by her admission and Lily felt his arms tighten around her slightly.

“Yeah, me too.”  Sam reached out a hand and pushed her hair back.  “I missed you, Lil.”

“I missed you too, Sam.”

Sam was studying her face, was watching her so closely, his eyes looking for something though Lily wasn’t sure what.  Lily was just about to ask him when he spoke.

“Let’s get some breakfast and some coffee.”

Lily nodded and followed his move, getting out of bed and stretching, watching him as he padded barefoot towards the kitchen.  The cabin they were in had an open floor plan; the only room that was totally separate was the bathroom so Lily was able to watch him the entire way.  They hadn’t talked yet, hadn’t discussed anything that they’d come here to hash out.  They’d both been exhausted by the time they got here last night and Sam had suggested and Lily had agreed they needed sleep before they talked.  They’d both all but fallen into bed.  That was the reason for the hesitation on both their parts.  Lily would have much rather they spent the time ripping each other’s clothes off and any other time she would have pushed that agenda.  But they needed to talk, had to get things straightened out or they would never be anything more than a fling that somehow went too far.

So with a sigh Lily followed behind Sam and busied herself with the coffee maker.

* * *

_***Current Day***_

Rose blinked at her sister, her eyes large in her face, giving her an owlish look.

“What do you mean a prophecy?”

Lily bit back the sarcastic answer that wanted to come out.  This really wasn’t the time for snark she knew, but it came so easily to her, was her default most of the time.  Before she could answer at all Rose was pressing on, asking another question.

“You mean something besides all the ones I’ve seen?”

Lily nodded.  “Yeah, there was a part Charlie found that was about me.”  Lily paused then added softly, “And Sam.” Lily turned and opened the drawer in her bedside table, finding what she was looking for and handing a piece of paper to her sister.

_Their bloodline is strong and true and will be further strengthened by joining with a mighty family of the sword. There may be other heirs, that is beyond our vision, but the warrior will be the one to keep the bloodline pure.  Many tides and fortunes can change, but this much is certain; the duty falls to the warrior; the future gift bearers will come from her womb, the bloodline will be carried on through her.  Her union with a man who is not just of the sword but also of letters will only fortify the lineage. She is the mother of the next generation of the sisters._

“I’ve never seen this,” Rose said softly, her hands trembling slightly as she held the bit of paper in her hands, her words clearly conveying her disbelief.  She glanced up at Lily.  “You didn’t want me to see this.”  There wasn’t even a hint of doubt in her words and Lily winced.

“I didn’t want anyone to see it,” Lily said, her voice flat.  “I didn’t want it to even exist.”

* * *

Sam made toast and poured cereal and milk into bowls while Lily made the coffee.  They sat at the small wooden table and by unspoken agreement ate in silence, both occasionally glancing out the large window at the breathtaking view beyond and sneaking glances at each other.  When the plates were empty and had been carried to the sink they filled their coffee mugs and settled down on the couch, Sam at one end, Lily at the other. 

“So I think we both agree we want to be together,” Sam said and Lily let herself admire the tone of his voice.  Sam had a leader inside him, could be one so easily if he let himself.  She nodded.  They had talked on the way here about that, had dug in and dealt with what had happened in Wisconsin, the why’s and how’s and all the fallout.  Lily felt she understood Sam’s reaction a little better though she was fairly sure a part of it was missing.  And that part she was almost certain had to do with what they hadn’t talked about yet: The prophecy.

Lily had always been good at denial.  She could hide things from herself for an amazing amount of time.  She dealt with demons every day she figured.  It made sense she would want to hide from her own personal ones.  So when she’d first read the prophecy she’d spent all of less than an hour thinking about it before locking it inside a tight box inside her head and not touching it.  Stray thoughts had slipped in occasionally, and sometimes more than stray thoughts like the morning after Sam got back from Kansas City.  But for the most part she’s avoided thinking about it.  And now she had to talk about it.

Sam nudged her with his leg gently and Lily shook herself from her thoughts.

“Right, yeah where do we start?”

* * *

"But Lily, this is great!" Rose's face was alight as she looked at the much folded scrap of paper her sister had handed her. "It's the first bit of prophecy that isn't all doom and gloom and death." Rose was so wrapped up in her delight that she failed to notice how very unhappy Lily looked. "I mean finally a prophecy that paints the future as a good place, gives us some good news-"

"You think this is good?" Lily broke into her sister's gushing sharply.  She reached out as she spoke, taking the paper back from her sister and shoving it back into the drawer where it had lived in since the first day Sam had shown it to her.

"Well yeah, I mean compared to blood and death."

"Except this is nothing I want," Lily said, slamming the drawer shut. "Nothing I ever wanted."

* * *

"I don't want kids," Lily said quietly, her eyes fixedly on her knee. She picked at the worn denim of her old jeans. They were on their last legs. She'd need to buy new ones soon.  She shook her head, not letting herself get distracted by trivial things. "I never played house when I was a kid. I wanted to be the general in an army, or Wonder Woman."

"Or president," Sam broke in knowingly and Lily looked up finally. "Remember you had that whole plan for how you were going to run the country? You had posters and everything." A fond smile spread across Sam's face and Lily couldn't help but return it.

She shook her head then, the smile disappearing from her face. "The point is I am not the maternal type."

"You're wrong," Sam argued. "I've seen you with your sisters. You're great at taking care of them."

"They're my sisters, Sam," Lily said. "Not my kids. I don't have to be responsible for them twenty four seven. And I mean, I didn't choose them. They were born, I'm the oldest so I take care. That's just how it goes."

* * *

Rose was looking at her sister with a puzzled expression now, something that rarely happened. Rose may not agree with her thinking but she usually understood it. Apparently not this time.

"Well no," Rose finally acquiesced. "I mean, I know kids weren’t in your plans before but now...I mean you're with Sam and you two-"

"Loving Sam doesn't mean I want to be a mom," Lily interrupted. "Being a girlfriend is very different than being a mother."

"Wife."

"What?" Lily asked with a frown.

"Wife," Rose corrected. "You're engaged. That leads to marriage which means you'll be someone’s wife."

"Whatever," Lily said, brushing her sister's correction aside. "The point is-

"You're not happy about this," Rose finished softly and Lily nodded, relieved her sister was finally getting it.

* * *

"OK but in the future," Sam said, calmly. "I mean there's no time table on this that we know of."

"I have no biological clock, Sam," Lily said firmly. "I don’t look at babies and ooh and aww over them and dream about holding one. There is never going to be a time when I am just yearning for a baby."

"You don't know that, Lil," Sam said calmly and Lily frowned at him.

"I do. I know myself." Lily was on her feet now, her irritation making staying still impossible. "Babies are gross and messy and they cry and you can't do anything with them and I'm just not the person this prophecy was meant for."

"Well the powers that be would disagree."

"Well they can bite me," Lily said acidly. She stomped over to the window, taking in the still falling snow. Things were silent for a moment then Lily looked back at Sam. "You like it, don't you? The prophecy, it’s like your dream come true."

Sam winced, knowing she wouldn't like this.

"Not for the reasons you think," he prefaced his answer with. "I don't want you to change. I have no desire to clip your wings or tie you down or anything like that." Lily turned to face him, her arms crossed in front of her. "It's just, it's nice, you know, to be chose to be the one to set the future into motion. When you've had prophecies that say you can basically destroy the world it's pretty nice to hear you get to have some kids with the woman you love."

"Except that woman doesn't want kids," Lily retorted.

"I know," Sam said quietly and Lily felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

"Look Sam, it's not you,” Lily said, needing to reassure him of this point. “If I was going to want kids with anyone it would be you."

"We'd have pretty babies," Sam said, with a small smile and Lily looked at him like he'd just grown an extra head. "Per Charlie," Sam hastened to add and then explained the source for the comment.

"Yeah, we would," Lily said, with a small smile of her own. Then she sobered. "But be that as it may, it's not happening."

And if that settled it she stomped off to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't really understand me not being happy about it," Lily said now, looking at her sister with an expression that said she'd just proven her right.

Rose frowned. "Is that why you didn't tell me?"

"No, I told you I didn't want anyone-"

"But other people know, right?" Rose cut her off and Lily reluctantly nodded. "Everyone?"

"Mom and Bobby don't know," Lily offered.

"But Daisy and...and Dean?"

Lily flinched, knowing Dean's not sharing was going to blow up on him. Shit.

"Daisy just knew,” Lily said, still looking put out by that. “And Yeah, Sam told Dean." Lily hesitated then said, "He didn't tell you because he figured it was my place."

Rose just nodded, not commenting further. The two sisters were silent for a moment and then Rose glanced up. She remembered suddenly how ill Lily had seemed to be on New Year’s.

"So I take it you weren't. Pregnant, I mean."

"No," Lily said with a shake of her head. "But apparently I needed to think I might be. Intent and purpose in my blood and all that."

"Oh." Rose's reply was so soft it was hard to hear. "And you know you aren't because-"

"The bitch made that quite clear." There was real hate in Lily's voice and Rose looked up at her in surprise. "That was what she whispered to me just before we left. I think she just wanted to dig the knife in a little deeper."

 _"All that sacrifice and it was all for nothing. Oh, for me it was very important but there is no babe in your womb, silly girl." The words whispered in her ear as cold as death. "All that time you thought you could be endangering the life of a child you don't even want it was simply your blood flowing out freely, breaking the barrier and letting my sister free. You thought you were fighting for a life other than your own."_ Ashling laughed quietly and Lily felt her heart ache. _"As if someone as selfish as yourself would ever care for another so much."_

Rose studied her sister, not sure if she should say she was sorry or not. Lily was so adamant she didn't want a child but she seemed upset by Ashling's words. In the end she said nothing, figuring there was no right answer.

* * *

"You know prophecies have a way of coming true whether we want them to or not." Sam's voice was low. Lily had come out of the bathroom and sat back down on the couch but hadn't uttered another word. Finally Sam had to speak.

"Meaning what?" she asked now, looking at him suspiciously.

"Meaning that unless we're planning on taking up a life of celibacy even with birth control it stands to reason that eventually the inevitable will happen and you'll wind up pregnant.” Sam gave her a crooked smile. “I'm pretty sure prophecy trumps birth control."

Lily looked at him for a full minute, her expression disgruntled.

"Well if that happens I'll just take care of it," she said finally and it was Sam's turn to get to his feet, needing some distance between them.

"Seriously, Lily?" he asked in amazement. "You could just so calmly, so callously..."

"There's nothing callous about it," Lily said standing and glaring at Sam. "Would you want to be born if you weren't wanted?"

Sam shook his head and walked away, stepping into the kitchen, trying to settle his breathing.

"And what if I want the baby?" he asked finally and Lily shook her head.

"It doesn't work that way, Sam. It's not like a household chore you can just choose who handles it. I'd be carrying the kid, giving birth and I want none of that."

"So you'd just kill it?" Lily’s eyed widened at this but before she could speak Sam was already backtracking. “OK, no forget that. I didn’t meant that, not exactly. It’s just…” He stopped, trying to explain this calmly, reasonably so Lily would understand. “If it was our baby…” He trailed off, praying she’d get it.

Lily just looked back at him, her expression unwavering, clearly showing her feelings hadn’t changed. “I can’t, Sam. Our baby or not…I can’t.”

Sam shook his head. "I just thought if it was ours, maybe you’d feel differently."

And then Sam was the one walking out, stalking out the door. He only got a few feet before he heard the door open and something hit the snow behind him.

"Take your damn jacket with you so you don't freeze to death, you idiot!" The door slammed after Lily and Sam turned back to find his jacket laying there in a drift of snow. Angry or not he stalked back and shrugged it on before walking away.

* * *

Sam came back to the cabin awhile later, his face red from the cold but feeling calmer. He mimicked Lily's actions from before, taking his seat back on the couch.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s your body and I can’t make decisions for you.” Sam met her eye. “I don’t want to. It just…hearing you say that, it threw me.”

Lily nodded, understanding. This wasn’t easy, wasn’t a fun conversation.

"You know it's not like we're giving birth to these kids so they can have a great future,” Lily pointed out. “We're supposed to have kids so they can be fighters, can fulfill these damn prophecies. That's not exactly a future any parent would want for their kid." She shook her head. “It’s like having kids so they can be cannon fodder.”

“I understand that,” Sam said calmly. “But if they have to be born to someone who better than us? Between you and me and our families, I mean how many resources and support can you get?”

Lily nodded, not denying that. It didn’t change the fact she didn’t want to be a mother.

It was quiet then for quite a while. Finally Sam sighed.

"Maybe if we can just look at this like our relationship."

Lily frowned. "How so?"

"OK we didn't expect us to happen, right? But it's turned out really good." Lily nodded. "So maybe if we approach this with the same attitude..."

"Oh, like maybe I'll suddenly wake up with this burning desire for a kid?" Lily asked with a smirk.

"Stranger things have happened," Sam said with a shrug.

"If I didn't know what all existed out there I'd argue that fact," Lily muttered. Finally she said, "We really can't change it can we?"

Sam shook his head. "Not anyway I can see."

"Maybe my mom could make some kind of potion..." Lily started and Sam immediately shook his head.

"Mixing magic with a prophecy seems like a really bad idea," he cautioned and Lily sighed again.

"Yeah, my mom would probably agree with you." Lily fidgeted with her bracelet then looked up at Sam. “I hate feeling helpless, like I have no choice here.”

“Hey, come here,” Sam said, opening his arms and Lily immediately moved into them, climbing onto his lap. Sam wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on top of hers. “I know you hate this but you’re not helpless. True it’s a prophecy and we can’t change it but we can handle it together OK?”

“I don’t want to handle it, Sam,” Lily said, petulantly. “I just want it to go away.” She snuggled into Sam’s body, feeling soothed by him and Sam smiled.

“I know, Darling, and if I could make it disappear I would.”

“You would?” Lily asked, drawing back to look at him in surprise.

“Of course,” Sam said, reaching out a hand to smooth her hair back.

“But you like it,” Lily said, looking confused. “Why would you want it to go away?” And Sam smiled at the genuine bewilderment in her voice.

“Lily, I love you. I want you to be happy more than anything in the world,” Sam explained, smoothing his thumbs over her cheekbones. “If it means giving up something I want so you’ll be happy I can do that easy.” Lily looked at him in wonder and tears pooled in her eyes. “Hey, hey, don’t cry,” Sam said in alarm. “We’re OK.”

Lily couldn’t help the tears that leaked out and she didn’t really try, just tucking her head back under Sam’s chin and snuggling against him. Sam just held her, figuring today had been a tough one. Finally she wiped her eyes, pulled back and surprised Sam by kissing him. It was soft and slow, full of emotion. Lily held Sam’s face in her hand when it was done and looked in his eyes.

“I thought I knew what love was,” she said, her voice husky with tears. “I love my family. I’d do anything for them.” She shook her head, her hands cupping his face reverently. “But then you say something like that and I can tell you mean it. And just, the way you love me is something else. You make me realize I have no idea what love really is or how to do this right.” She smiled at him softly. “But I want to learn.”

Sam smiled at her, his hands on her back soft and tender. “You know a lot more than you give yourself credit for, Lil. You teach me all the time.”

Lily didn’t bother arguing with Sam; she knew he wouldn’t hear her at all when she said she was the one learning. Instead she just leaned back against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

Lily had no idea how any of this was going to go. She still didn’t want a kid and she didn’t see that changing. But she had faith in Sam. She had faith in them. So somehow it would work out. She had to believe that.

* * *

"You look tired,” Rose said gently. “I'm going to go so you can rest."

Lily nodded, surprised Rose had let her off so easily. She'd figured there's be yelling at least. Instead Rose just looked sad. That was worse, Lily thought with a wince.

"Can you send Sam in?" she asked as her sister stood. She stretched out on the bed, her head finding her pillow. She really was tired.

"Sure. You're OK, right?" Rose asked, her voice anxious and Lily nodded.

"I am," she promised. "Just tired after all of that."

And despite the fact that Rose was upset with her sister for not telling her she couldn't get the picture of Lily tied up and bleeding out of her head. So she leaned down and hugged her gently and then let herself out.

She found both boys in the kitchen. "Sam, Lily wants you," she said quietly. Way too quietly, that had Dean's head swiveling. He knew that tone. She was upset and not letting it out. While Sam brushed by her quickly in the direction of his bedroom Dean's eyes were on Rose.

"She OK?" he asked and Rose nodded, looking at him with a look he couldn't decipher. Before he could try to figure it out she was turning and heading down the hallway and Dean followed. Their bedroom door had barely closed before Rose was wheeling on him.

"You give me all these lectures how not telling someone things, how leaving stuff out is as good as lying. Well I guess you'd know, wouldn't you?" And there was all the heat, all the anger she’d wanted to voice to Lily but hadn’t.

"Huh?" Dean brilliantly responded. He wasn't sure what she was getting at or where this was coming from.

"You conveniently left out part of the prophecy when you showed me it, didn't you?" Rose demanded and Dean cringed. Oh Shit. "You know, kind of a big one about Lily and Sam?"

"I thought she'd tell you," Dean said, putting his hands out placatingly.

"Oh really?" Rose demanded, too upset to be reasonable. "That's the story you're going with."

"Yeah, because it's not a story!" Dean said, feeling his own temper rise. He wasn't sure why he was getting bitched out here. It was Lily's damn prophecy. She should be the one to tell her sister.

"I can't believe what a hypocrite you are!" Rose said, marching over and grabbing her phone and shoving it in her jeans pocket.

"I am not a hypocrite!" Dean thundered. "It wasn't my prophecy. You want to be mad at someone be mad at Lily."

"Oh no you don't get to tell me who to be mad at!" Rose said. "You told me you showed me it all you and you lied. That makes you a liar!"

Normally even when Rose was angry she could hold onto logic, to sense. But in the past twenty four hours she had been shaken. Too much had happened and the person she was really, truly angry with was in no shape to have it taken out on them. So, unfortunately Dean took the brunt of it.  And Dean had not been prepared for this confrontation. He had still been in worried-about-Rose mode after what had happened in the cave. He hadn't seen this coming and wasn't ready for it.

"OK you need to calm down," he said. Which of course, as everyone knows is the worst thing to say to an angry person.

"Don't tell me to calm down," Rose bit out. Dean watched as she slipped shoes on her feet. "In fact don't tell me anything. Just leave me alone." She brushed past him and out the bedroom door.

"Rose, get back here!" Dean bellowed, following her out and Rose glared at him over her shoulder.

"I'm not leaving the bunker, don't worry," she said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "But I need some space so give it to me."

Dean stopped as she made her way down the hallway. Maybe space wasn't such a bad idea.

* * *

Cas and Daisy's heads jerked up from the bed when the raised voices of Rose and Dean passed by in the hallway.

"I guess Lily's prophecy is out in the open," Daisy said and Cas looked at her.

"Oh," he said after he'd seen clearly from her thoughts what was going on. He had known Daisy had worried how Rose would react. He hadn't realized it would cause problems between her and Dean though. He looked at Daisy curiously and she explained.

"She feels Dean lied to her, not telling her about it." She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. "Rose is really mad at Lily but she was hurt and that scared Rose so she can't yell at her."

"So she's yelling at Dean instead?" Cas queried and Daisy nodded. He pondered this while Daisy got up and moved about the room. People did such weird things. They said things they didn't mean, yelled at people they weren't really upset with. He found it all very strange.

"You're not at all intimidated by him are you?" he asked Daisy as she came back in from the bathroom, brush in hand.

"Who? Dean?" Cas nodded. He'd been surprised that when Dean had yelled at her, had tried to intimidate her into telling him where Rose had gone Daisy hadn't seemed phased by it. She hadn’t even considered backing down.

Daisy shook her head, with a smile. "Dean would never hurt me." Cas started to question her and Daisy continued on. "Want to know how I know?" Cas nodded and so Daisy began to tell him a story of a stuffed goldfish, a sparkly orange crayon and the Impala.

* * *

Daisy had been six years old when Mrs. Sunshine, the stuffed goldfish came into her life. Dean himself had won him for her at the county fair and Daisy squealed with delight at how sparkly and orange he was. (Cas smiled at this point, knowing all too well of Daisy’s love for anything sparkly and bright.) Mrs. Sunshine went everywhere with her for quite some time. Daisy also happened to be in the midst of a coloring phase and had been delighted when her father had bought her a box of sparkly crayons, the orange one matching Mrs. Sunshine’s shade of orange exactly.

Dean and Rose were hanging out in our front yard, sitting in the Impala, Dean trying to look cool sitting behind the wheel even though he was technically too young to legally drive with Rose sat beside him, smiling at him happily. Daisy had crawled into the backseat, Mrs. Sunshine and her box of crayons along with her.

At first Daisy was content to sit in the backseat, singing softly to her goldfish a song she made up on the spot about macaroni and cheese, while Dean and Rose talked about boring things in the front seat, But then she’d gotten bored and this lead to trouble, as it would for most of the rest of Daisy’s life. She’d been admiring her crayons, staring at the open box and the pretty colors and telling Mrs. Sunshine all about how sparkly they were when she thought maybe it would be OK to add just a little bit of sparkle to the Impala itself. The seats were such a boring black color. She bet the color would make Dean and Sam happy. So Daisy had pulled out her favorite orange color and proceeded to draw stripes down the seat. Luckily Rose noticed quite quickly, fairly used to quiet equaling trouble as far as Daisy was concerned.

She turned, saw what Daisy had down and let out an ear splitting shriek. “Oh Daisy no!” Dean spun around as well, saw what Daisy had done and Daisy had the momentary thought that she might just be about to die.

“See, I kind of knew I wasn’t supposed to color on stuff that wasn’t mine,” Daisy said now, hesitantly, and Cas smiled at the sheepish look on her face and the guilt he still saw there. “Really, they should have never let me sit back there with my crayons. I had a bad habit of coloring on things that weren’t really meant to be colored on. And even though the car wasn’t even Dean’s yet, was still his Dad's he still loved it." Cas nodded at this, well aware of Dean's love for the Impala, and then Daisy went back to her story.

In no time at all they were standing outside the car, Rose was yelling, Daisy was crying and Dean was in the backseat, inspecting the damage. He finally got out and Daisy was sure he was going to kill her. He came and stood over her, his hands on his hips, a dark scowl on his face and Daisy looked up at him, her lower lip trembling and tears coursing down her cheeks. Instead of yelling Dean sighed and picked Daisy up, surprising both the girls. He sat her on the hood of the Impala, looked her in the eye and then suddenly took Mrs. Sunshine from her arms.

"Do you love this fish?" he asked, and Daisy blinked and nodded as Rose watched on, unsure of what was happening. "Would you be happy if I turned her another color?" Dean asked.

“No,” Daisy said, looking up at him carefully. She wasn’t sure what was going on either but she wasn’t dead and that was good.

“Would you like it if I cut her tail off?” Dean demanded, shaking the fish in the air for emphasis. Daisy wailed loudly at this.

“No! Don’t hurt Mrs. Sunshine!” she howled dramatically.

"OK then, don't color on my damn car," Dean snapped, shoving the fish back in her arms where Daisy hugged her desperately. “Now I’m going to go inside and get some cleaning supplies and you’re going to help me clean up the mess you made. Understand?” And they did just that, Daisy and Dean erasing the orange marks from the leather seats while Rose sat in the front and just watched them with a smile on her face.

Daisy shrugged. "And that was it. I helped him clean the seat up, though I swear if you look really close there just may be a little tiny bit of orange there somewhere." She grinned at Cas. "If I can get away with doing damage to Baby and live to tell the tale then I can get away with anything."

Cas studied her, mulling this over as she finally started pulling the brush she'd gone to fetch through her curls, trying to tame them. Seeing he wasn't quite clear yet, Daisy paused. "I'm the baby, Cas. It comes with its drawbacks but it comes with its perks too."

"You can get away with more," Cas finally said and Daisy nodded.

Cas thought this over some more as Daisy finally managed to get her hair to do as she wanted it. Finally he cleared his throat and asked:

"Is there some kind of manual or diagram for all this?" He frowned. "All these relationships and protocols. It's all very confusing."

Daisy giggled. "Sorry, no. You'll just have to pick it up as you go along." She smiled at him. "I promise it all makes sense after a while."

* * *

Lily was already asleep by the time Sam made it to their bedroom. The next time she woke up she was surrounded by warmth. Sam was behind her, his arms wrapped around her and a warm fuzzy body was pressed against her stomach. Lily looked down in confusion. Big brown eyes stared back at her and a warm fuzzy body wiggled in excitement as a tail thumped excitedly.

"Bobby said she was whining," a low voice said from behind Lily. "I think she missed us."

Lily ran a hand over Violet's warm body and Violet licked her hand excitedly then went back to chewing on a stuffed toy.

"Rose is upset with me," Lily said and Sam hugged her.

"Yeah, I figured. Sounded like she took it out on Dean though." Lily looked at him quizzically over her shoulder. "There was yelling."

"I should talk to her again."

"Give it a bit," Sam suggested. "It's been quiet for a while and you're still tired."

"You know if I didn't know better, Sam, I'd swear you were enjoying taking care of me."

Sam hugged her again. "Maybe."

"Is it OK if I admit it's nice?" Lily asked softly and Sam smiled.

"I promise not to tell a soul," he swore.

"I get it," Lily said after a few minutes had passed with the only noise being Violet's enthusiastic chewing. "Why she's mad at me I mean."

"You mean because she'd do anything to swap prophecies with you?" Sam suggested and Lily nodded.

"It really does feel like they switched us up, doesn't it?" Lily mused.

"More like they're pushing you," Sam said gently. "Making you find parts of yourself you didn't know you had."

Lily snorted softly. "You can't find what's not there."

* * *

In Rose's wanderings of the bunker when she was recovering she'd found countless rooms. Some she wasn't sure what the functions were, while others were obviously storage or office space. Her favorite was a small room holding older books. She assumed the boys knew it was there, thought she guessed she should mention it to Sam at some point to be sure. There could be some much needed lore books here for all she knew. Though honestly there seemed to be mostly regular old fiction books here which Rose had found surprising though she guessed if you were stuck in the bunker for long you needed some distractions. When she got here now she was still angry, pacing around and muttering to herself.

She dropped down into the small couch in the corner with a sigh. It was Lily she wanted to scream at, Lily she wanted to demand why she didn't give her the benefit of the doubt. She knew Lily thought her powers were cool but Rose had never yelled at her for not understanding why she hated them so. Then again Rose felt fairly certain this prophecy had shook Lily up in a way she hadn't been shaken up before.

Feeling suddenly exhausted Rose pulled her feet up and curled up on the couch, closing her eyes and hoping when she woke up she'd feel better prepared to deal with this mess.

An hour later she woke up, and the guilt of what she’d done washed over her. She'd been monumentally unfair to Dean, she realized, sitting up with a groan. OK, yes he should have told her about the prophecy but ultimately it wasn't really him she was mad at; it was Lily. And now he was most likely justifiably mad at her. She needed to fix this.

She found Dean sitting in the library, laptop open in front of him and a glass of whiskey next to it. He didn’t even look up when she entered and Rose winced at that. Oh yes, he was angry. She took a seat next to him and watched him silently for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice small in the lofty room. “I was mad, upset, at Lily really and I took it out on you.”

Dean looked up then, his eyes dark, one eyebrow raised, but said nothing so Rose carried on.

“I should have breathed, or taken a minute to calm down but I was too upset, too much had happened and you were there. And yes, I still think you should have told me but I did overreact.”

“No really?” Dean said, leaning back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

“I was overwhelmed and I’m sorry,” Rose repeated. “Really sorry. I’m an awful, horrible person and I can understand-”

Dean rolled his eyes, used to Rose’ overreactions.

“Oh God, stop it. You lost your temper. You didn’t murder someone.” He spread his arms open in invitation. “Get over here.”

Rose practically flew from her seat to his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and cuddling her body into his as he wrapped his arms around her.

“You overreacted” he said, then admitted, “But I should have told you.”

“I’ll make you dinner,” Rose said, needing to make it up to him somehow.

“And pie?” Dean asked, always having to push and Rose smiled.

“And pie,” she promised. “Any flavor you want.”

“Cherry,” Dean murmured and Rose laughed softly, already knowing that would be the answer.

They stayed like that for a moment, both taking comfort in the other and then slowly Dean pulled back slightly to look at her.

“You sure you’re up for that? After yesterday.” Rose smiled at his concern and brushed his hair back.

“I’m fine,” she promised. “Though I could always use an assistant,” she said enticingly.

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Dean said and before Rose could blink Dean was on his feet, carrying her towards the kitchen. He deposited her in front of the island and clapped his hands together. “Come on, Sweetheart. Let’s get to work!”


	2. You Wanna Give Up 'Cause it's Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations x infinity

“Would you just spank me already and get it over with?”

Dean gave a slow blink, his only immediate reaction to the situation in front of him. He’d been relaxing on the bed, headphones on, music blasting. It had been a hectic few days, with everyone trying to get a handle on what had happened and what it meant going forward. It didn’t help that Crowley kept trying to contact him, wanting to meet. Or that Sam had finally told Erin and Bobby about Lily’s bit of the prophecy. Or that Lily was still holed up in her and Sam’s room, refusing to come out and talk with anyone. Sam was on guard dog duty, not letting anyone in to see her and that wasn’t going over well. All in all it had been a stressful few days and Dean just needed a minute, to catch his breath and turn his mind off.

And then along came Rose.

Marching into the room, grabbing his headphones off his head and flinging them into the chair and throwing herself over his lap.

Slightly dramatic to say the least.

And all Dean could do in response was blink in surprise.

It was cold in the bunker so she was dressed in a long gray sweater over black leggings, which meant currently Dean was staring at her ass encased in tight spandex that clung to her every curve, perched perfectly over his lap, like some offering to him from the gods. Dean definitely had not been expecting this.

"Huh?" he managed to get out, giving perfect if not eloquent voice to his bewilderment.

"I know you're upset with me for going after Lily," Rose said, her voice a mix of impatience and exasperation. "So, just go ahead. Spank me. I can only handle so many people being upset with me at one time."

Dean once again blinked, his hand going out of its own accord, as if drawn like a magnet to the plump, tempting flesh in front of him. Then he stopped himself, with a small shake of his head. It seemed supremely unfair that he was being tempted like this. He just wanted a little peace and quiet, a few moments where no one was demanding anything of him or throwing a question at him or complaining about someone else’s actions. And here comes Rose waving her bottom in front of him like the greatest temptation known to man. He could do it, he knew. Hell, she'd given him permission, asked for it even. And he could get lost in her and ignore everything else going on.

Except he couldn't.

He deserved a fucking medal for this, he thought with a sigh as he reached down and grasped Rose by the waist and tugged her up to a sitting position.

"We need to talk," he said, when she looked back at him with a perplexed expression.

* * *

"About what?" Lily asked, a scowl on her face. She'd been right in the middle of a nice afternoon nap when Sam had rudely awoken her. Never mind that she'd only been awake for maybe two hours all day. She was tired.

Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her with a concerned look on his face and Lily wanted to tell him he had nothing to be worried about. She was fine. He should just let her sleep and she'd be even better.

"You've been holed up in here for almost a week now, Lily," Sam said and Lily sat up reluctantly. "I know at first you were well, in shock. But maybe now it's time to rejoin everyone." Lily's scowl grew and she drug her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapping around them. "Everyone misses seeing you."

"Great," Lily muttered and Sam frowned but soldiered on.

"And we all need to discuss what happened, get you and Rose together so we can get a clear picture and work out a plan."

"This is my plan," Lily said and it was Sam's turn to frown.

"What is?"

"This," Lily said, spreading her hands over the bed. "Just staying here. I'm obviously useless so this seems best."

"Useless," Sam repeated and Lily nodded. "Where did you..." he shook his head. "OK what am I missing here?"

"I got taken captive and couldn't get away from the demons who took me. I'm supposed to be a hunter, supposed to be able to fight, to protect myself and I couldn't. That equals useless in my book." Sam opened his mouth but before he could get a word out Lily was barreling on. "Plus Rose is all disappointed in me since I'm not doing cartwheels over my prophecy and just about everyone wants to talk to me so, no. I'm just staying in here."

Sam watched as Lily burrowed down under the blankets.

"For how long?" he asked.

"Forever," was the reply from under the covers.

* * *

"You tell her how many times the two of us have been taken hostage?" Dean asked his brother later that night as the two of them shared beers in the kitchen. "I mean it's a pretty common occurrence, you gotta admit." Sam snorted and flashed a quick grin in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, didn't faze her."

The two brothers were both silent, sipping at their beers, the quiet of the late night bunker surrounding them. Finally Dean cleared his throat.

"You know that's mostly bullshit, right? I mean all that useless bit, it's a smoke screen." Sam just raised an eyebrow and Dean continued. "I mean, I'm sure knowing Lily yeah, she's feeling pretty pissed about having to be rescued but the real problem is the prophecy."

"You don't say," Sam said, with a knowing look and Dean gave him a look. Of course Sam had known that all along. He knew Lily.

"She wants it to just go away," Sam said, peeling the label off his bottle. "She's wanted that from the start. And now that it's out, now that Erin and Rose know...well she can't ignore it as easily as she was.”

"So, she's going to just live in your bedroom for the rest of eternity?" Dean asked and Sam shrugged.

"That's her plan." Something in his tone made Dean look up.

"But it's not yours." Sam gave him a small smile.

"Nope, she has till tomorrow and then I'm sending in the big guns.”

Dean's eyes widened and he was just opening his mouth to question Sam when a noise behind him had him turning his head to find Rose in the doorway.

"Dean?" she said, in a sleep laden voice. "What are you doing up?"

"Hey Rosie," he said, smiling at her and reaching out a hand her way. "Just having a drink with Sammy." Rose came to his side and Dean pulled her down onto his lap, cuddling her against him. Sam smiled to himself at the way Dean's whole face softened at the sight of Rose. His brother was such a sap.

Dean whispered something in Rose's ear and she shook her head. Then Dean drained the last sip of his beer and looked at his brother.

"We're gonna head to bed," he said, standing and pulling Rose up with him.

"Night, Sam," Rose said softly and turned the corner out the doorway.

"Good luck with that plan," Dean said to Sam and followed quickly behind Rose.

Sam sighed, then finishing off his beer he got up and turned the lights off and headed towards his own room. He hated to push Lily but someone had to and it looked like he was the lucky one.

* * *

Dean kissed Rose softly as she snuggled down in the bed and he quickly undressed and slid in bed next to her. She was drifting off already, having barely woken up to come look for him. He sighed contentedly, holding her against his side, glad their conversation earlier had gone better than he'd hoped.

"What do we need to talk about?" Rose asked and Dean took a breath. He rubbed the back of his neck, fidgeted with his bracelet and then finally looked at Rose.

"OK why do you think I'm upset with you?"

Rose frowned, obviously not expecting this question.

"Well, I mean it was a dangerous situation, right? And you hate when I go into those."

"Was there any other option?"

"I don't understand," Rose said, looking confused.

"Could anyone else have gone?" Dean clarified.

"Well no, not into the cave."

Dean nodded. "And were you careful?"

"Yes, I took my gun with me and my knife." She paused. "Not that it did any good but I tried to be prepared."

"And did you have a good reason for walking into a dangerous situation?

"Well yes, I mean Lily's life is pretty important," Rose said, still seeming confused by this conversation.

"Well then as far as I can see, and a much as I hate to admit it, I don't get to be upset with you for what you did," Dean said. "We talked about it," he reminded her. "And I promised to try and not freak out as long as you were careful." He smiled at her. "I wish you would have told me but I get why you didn't too."

"So then why are you upset with me?" Rose asked, looking well and truly confused at this turn in to conversation.

"I never said I was," Dean said.

"But you're acting like it," Rose argued. "All stand offish and weird."

"I'm upset with myself," Dean admitted with a sigh. "I fucked up with not getting your mom to remove the spell.”

It was Rose’s turn to look surprised. She had expected Dean to be upset she’d had her mother remove the spell. She hadn't expected him to admit he should have done it himself. She opened her mouth to say as much but before she could Dean was off and rambling, words flowing from him like a faucet. In no time he was on his feet, pacing about and Rose figured he needed to get this out. Som she sat back, resting her back against the headboard and let him talk.

"-not that I don't trust you."

Rose stretched her legs out and got comfortable.

"-dangers you don't even know."

She slipped her shoes off, dropping them to the floor beside the bed.

"-out of my control and you know I hate that, Rose."

Rose nodded her head, knowing he did indeed hate that.

“-know I really screwed things up here and don’t know if you can get past that-“

Rose frowned at that. He seemed to be getting more upset as he went on. Venting was one thing but Dean was veering into beating himself up, which he did all too easily and that she wasn’t OK with. She waved her hands in the air, finally getting Dean's attention so he stopped and stared at her.

"Could you come over here and sit, please?" she asked. Dean shrugged then came over and sat next to her on the bed.  He was beside her, glancing at her once quickly, then focusing on his hands resting on his legs; not on her and that was a sure sign that things were wrong here.

"I realize you were enjoying that little bout of self-flagellation but it was getting pretty painful to watch," she said dryly.

Dean frowned. "I screwed up with you. I had your own mom put a spell on you and keep the spell on you for too long. I made you think I didn't trust you and-"

"OK, but did you trust me when you had her put it on?" Rose asked and Dean's frown gave way to a look of confusion. "I mean, I was pretty screwed up when I came back. I wasn't even sure what I was going to do. I don't know that I _should_ have been trusted."

The frown was back now, deeper than before. "We're in a relationship. I'm supposed to trust you."

"Just because we’re a couple doesn't mean sense goes out the window,” Rose pointed out.

“And I’m a control freak,” Dean said, his voice low, ignore what Rose said entirely. “You’ve said as much.”

“Mmm hmm,” Rose said, not arguing that fact. “And I knew that about you when we started going out.” Seeing this line of reasoning wasn't working Rose tried a different tact. She climbed onto his lap straddling him. Dean glanced up at her in surprise then quickly dropped his gaze again, making Rose frown. She rested her hands on his chest and kept her voice soft when she spoke.

"Dean," she said. "Would you look at me please?"

Slowly he raised his eyes to meet hers and Rose winced at the guilt she saw there. This man did love to beat himself up.  "Why did you have my mom put the spell on me in the first place?"

Dean hesitated and Rose could see him struggling to admit his perfectly logical reasons for having the spell put on her, then finally he blurted out, "Because you scared the hell out of me!” His hands came up to grip her thighs as his voice took on an urgent tone and Rose allowed herself a small smile at the feel of his hands on her. That was an improvement at least. Dean not touching her when he talked to her would never be normal. "You'd almost gotten yourself killed and I had no idea what you were going to do next. A spell to keep you here was the only thing I could think of to try and keep you safe.”

Rose nodded at finally hearing something logical from him. “And that’s important to you, isn’t it? Keeping me safe.”

“Hell yeah,” Dean said, his voice a little surer now as his hands moved up to rest on her hips. He looked into her eyes and Rose was happy to see a spark there now. Dean seemed to be moving onto firmer footing now. “It’s the most important thing.”

“Why?” Rose asked simply.

“Because I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone,” Dean said and Rose felt her heart flutter at those words. “The idea of you getting hurt, of something happening to you makes me feel like I can’t breathe, Rosie.” His eyes locked on hers, fierce and passionate. “Maybe I’m wrong and I just don’t know how to love someone right but I think you protect someone you love.”

Rose leaned into him, unable to stop herself from kissing him. God, this man. He was stubborn and way too protective and he loved her with an intensity that made her head spin. She tried to match the kiss to her feelings, to give him some idea of how he made her feel and was fairly sure she came up short. Because really how did you match that? She pulled back finally, resting her forehead against his. Dean looked a bit dazed, obviously not having seen the kiss coming and Rose smiled at that.

“That sounds like loving someone right in my book,” she said softly. “And how am I supposed to be angry with you when you love me like that?” she asked and Dean once again found himself blinking at her as she pulled her head back, her hands coming up to stroke his face gently. “You had the best of intentions and you came from a good place. Should you have taken the spell off sooner? Probably. And I should have probably pushed the issue more when we weren’t in the middle of a fight.” Rose shrugged, resting her hands on his chest again. “So, OK we learned that lesson. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot more along the way.”

Dean stared at her a moment then shook his head. “How do you do that?” It was Rose’s turn to look at him in quizzically. “You take what is this big pile of shit in my head, that I’ve been freaking out over for days now, and you just break it down so neatly and calmly.”

“It’s a lot easier to do when you’re not the one freaking out,” Rose said with a smile. “And if you had told me this days ago you would have saved yourself a lot of grief.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said then shot her a mischievous smirk. “But then I wouldn’t have gotten the pleasure of having you throw yourself over my lap and demand I spank you.” Rose rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the blush she knew was staining her face.

“Uh yeah, and you turned me down,” Rose pointed out, giving him a wounded look.

“Only because I’m a man of my word,” Dean assured her. “But hey, if you wanna play…” He moved his hands down, grabbing the very same ass he’d resisted before and squeezing, “I am all about that now.” He grinned at her and nodded toward the end of the bed. “Go pick out a toy from that box of fun Chastity gave us. I’ll show you how fun a spanking can be.”

* * *

When it came to Lily there were many different ways to go with getting her to talk and just as many that would lead to a brick wall. Sam had mulled over his options as he lay next to her sleeping form the night before. With Lily it was the people she loved most who could get through to her. Sam knew there were many times he would be the go to person. This wasn't one of them. More times than not Rose would be the ideal person. But in this case there were a lot of emotions running high between the two sisters. Rose was tip toeing around her sister as if she were made of glass so she definitely wouldn't be the go to in this case. Daisy generally was called for in a situation where force was needed and that wasn't the right approach here, Sam thought as Lily rolled over, moving fitfully in her sleep. Sam reached a hand out and stroked her hair softly. He knew Lily and he had a feeling this called for a softer touch.

So, it was that the next morning Erin eased her way into the darkened bedroom. Sam had been up for hours, taking the opportunity to talk with Erin over coffee. She'd willingly agreed, knowing someone needed to talk to her oldest and feeling as Sam did that she was the right person in this situation.

She sat the mug of coffee down on the bedside table, eyeing the lump that was her eldest child in the bed. She turned the bedside lamp on and sat down on the bed, reaching out a hand to shake Lily's leg. It took a minute for Lily to wake, a minute later for her to reach out a hand blindly, looking for coffee and then Erin watched her as she sat up, drinking from her own mug as she took in her daughter.

Lily looked a mess, groggy and sullen. She never had liked to be woken but this went beyond that. Erin sighed as she got up and moved to the wing chair.

Erin gave her a minute, letting the caffeine get into her system before she said, "Sam told me about the prophecy."

For a second Lily froze and in that instant Erin saw so much on her face - Fear, sadness, a hint of denial. She shook herself out of it quickly and sipped at her coffee again then glanced up at her mother.

"You must be pretty disappointed, huh?"

Erin frowned, not having expected that question.

"Why would I be disappointed-"

"You had a prophecy hoisted on you," Lily cut her off, her words harsh and emotional. "And then hey, look what happens to your kid too.” Lily let out a grunt. “Really fair."

"Nothing about any of this is fair, Lily," Erin said gently.

Lily didn't answer, just sipped at her coffee. She drained the rest of it then said, "Looks like Dad wasted all that training on me, huh? It would have been nice if they would have told us this to begin with. We could have saved a lot of time and effort."

Erin's frown grew as she watched Lily set the empty mug down. Before she could speak though Lily was carrying on.

"If we'd known we could have had Rose go through all the training, get her ready to be this force and I could have....I don't know, joined home ec. or something." Lily shrugged. "I mean, I probably would have gotten kicked out or something but I could have tried."

"Lily," Erin began but once again Lily cut her off.

"I mean that's what it's saying, right? I'm supposed to be Rose, she's supposed to be me.” She waved a hand expansively. “Everything we want, everything we are is wrong."

The tears came then, coursing down Lily's cheeks and Erin moved swiftly from the chair to the bed, to sit by her daughter  and wrap her arms around her. She let her sob, let her get out her emotions for several minutes, rubbing her hand up and down her back. Finally when her sobs had slowed Erin pulled back, grasping her shoulders gently.

"Who you are, Lily is no accident. You are exactly who you need to be and so is Rose. Your strength, her gentleness, neither of those are a mistake." Lily looked at her questioningly her eyes clearly saying she didn't agree but Erin wasn’t dissuaded. "Neither of the roads you two have is easy. You'll need all your skills, all your knowledge to get through it." Erin smiled and smoothed Lily's hair back. "If I had my way I would wish you both got to choose your own path. I want nothing but happiness and free will for you both and Daisy too. But our lives rarely seem to go that way." The look in her mother's eyes reminded Lily that if anyone knew that it was Erin. She had chosen very little that had happened to her. "I am extremely grateful for the good you all have - partners who love you for who you are, strong wills and a strong sisterhood. Those are things you can't replace or buy. I just wish I could have given you all your own choices too."

Lily bit her lip hard, looking down at her lap and when she spoke her voice was choked. "I hurt Sam. I didn't mean to but I said, well I said if I got pregnant I'd just get rid of it." Tears filled her eyes again and her voice when she spoke was panic filled. "I thought I could and then when I thought...when it was possible..." she shook her head. "I couldn't. I don't want a baby, Mom. But if it's ours..."

"It's a different matter entirely," Erin said and Lily nodded, glad her mother understood. "I'm sure Sam gets that."

More tears spilled from Lily and Erin just soothed her, letting the emotions run. Finally Lily pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"I don't want this, Mom. Any of it. And if it comes down to it, God, I'll be an awful mother."

Erin laughed surprising her daughter. "You don't think I thought the same thing?" Erin shook her head. "What I knew about parenting would be considered nothing of the sort. I knew nothing about nurturing or care taking. My parents ideas of child rearing pretty much involved making sure I didn't die and making sure I knew the right weapon to use."

"But you did a great job," Lily said. "How'd you..."

"How did I learn?" Lily nodded. "I watched your Dad. He was a born nurturer plus he'd gotten plenty of it growing up. And I went with my instincts. I don't think I was mother of the year by any stretch of the imagination and the mistakes I made could fill the grand canyon but I think considering where I started I did OK."

Lily was frowning, taking this all in, a serious look on her face.

"You can't change prophecy," Erin said softly. "But you can do things your way. There's a certain amount of leeway, some room to put your own spin on things. How you handle this, how you do it all is up to you."

"It doesn't feel like it," Lily grumbled and Erin smiled. Lily had always hated to be told what to do.

"It may not feel like it, but there is. You get to decide how you approach all this. My parents assumed I would keep hunting, would raise you girls in that world." Lily looked at her mother in surprise and Erin smiled. "That wasn't the life I wanted, for me or for you. That's one way I made it my own. You can do that too, Lily." She grasped one of Lily's hands in her own and squeezed it. "This may not be the life you or Sam would have chosen but you get to decide how you are going to live it. Certain things there is no getting around but in others you can make your own decisions." Lily nodded thoughtfully at that and Erin smiled, knowing her job here was done. "But the sulking has to end. Get out of bed, take a shower and come back and join the land of the living." Erin got to her feet and walked to the door, her eyes still on her oldest. "Please. Before you drive an entire bunker full of people crazy with worry."

* * *

"She's not mad at you, you know that right?"

Rose glanced up at Dean as he entered the kitchen. She glanced back down quickly, where she was chopping up green onions. Who they were talking about didn't need to be named.

"Could have fooled me," she said softly and Dean frowned at the hurt note in her voice. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"She's upset and unhappy and pretty shaken up I would guess. Doesn't mean she's mad at you."

Rose frowned but remained silent and Dean sighed.

"You're doing the quiet thing again," he said and Rose glanced back at him.

"There's a quiet thing I do?" she asked and Dean nodded.

"When you don't agree but don't want to say it so you just don't say anything. Classic Rose move."

"Is there a list of these moves of mine?" she asked, a note of amusement creeping into her voice and Dean grinned.

"Hell yeah. But if I tell you them then you'll know I know all your tricks."

"Oh there are tricks now too?”

"Mmm hmm." Dean slipped the knife from her hands, laying it down on the counter and turning her in his arms. "Want to know my favorite one?"

"Of course," Rose said, looking up at him with her full attention.

"This one," Dean said, leaning down to capture her lips with his. As his lips moved over hers Rose felt all the noise - all the worry over Lily, all her concern over what had happened back in the cave, all her fears about the future - slip away. Her body melted into Dean's as her arms slipped up around his neck and he couldn't help but feel a rush of victory when he felt the soft sigh go through her body. It would never cease to amaze him the way she reacted to him and the way she made him respond.

"That," he said in a husky voice, pulling his mouth away from hers. "The way you forget everything else the moment my lips touch yours."

"I'm pretty sure that's your trick," Rose said, her voice as soft as her eyes were.

"Aw, but Princess your trick is you drag me right along with you," Dean said, flashing her a charming grin. "No one but you has ever done that."

Rose was opening her mouth to respond when Sam appeared in the doorway.

"Hey guys," he said, giving them a quick smile as Rose pulled back from Dean. "Lunch just about ready?"

"Almost," Rose said, turning back to the counter and the food she'd been focused on before Dean came in.

Sam motioned with his head and Dean followed him out, the two heading towards the library, their heads lowered, carrying on a hushed conversation.

Rose was putting the chicken salad onto fresh bread when a noise from the doorway had her half turning, expecting to see Dean returning with more flirtations to distract her. Instead Lily stood there, looking hesitant. Rose felt her heart lurch for just a second. She hadn't expected to see Lily out of her room yet. She gave her sister a small smile and the next thing she knew Lily was flying across the room, enveloping her in a fierce hug. Words of apology spilled from both their lips.

"I was so presumptuous-"

"I should have told you-"

And just like that they were good again, their bond tight enough that this was all it took. There would be time later for more conversations, more detailed explanations. But for now the rift that had begun was filled and life as they knew it could go on.


	3. Starting Right Now I'll Be Strong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tell me a story, Bake me a cake, Dream me a dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a mistake in editing...if you read this before you probably missed the second section. Sorry about that. It's fixed now.

Daisy watched as her two older sisters came into the room, carrying lunch for everyone. She smiled softly as Lily passed by her, brushing her hand over Daisy's shoulders. She and Rose had obviously worked things out which made Daisy happy. Her world always felt off kilter if her sisters weren’t getting along.

Lunch was eaten quickly by all gathered around the library tables. And as soon as the plates were cleared away Daisy saw Lily and Rose exchange a look; they knew what was coming next.

"So if you two are feeling up to it," Sam started, "We really need to hear details about what happened. I know I've heard from Lily what happened to her and I know Dean's heard from Rose but we really need to get the whole story here, to make it sure there's nothing important we're missing."

"Yes, Giles," Lily said with an eyeroll, pulling a giggle from both her sisters and a smirk from Dean. Sam gave her an amused, tolerant, smile, happy she seemed to be getting back to her normal self. Sarcasm was Lily’s default.

After a quick run down from the girls of what both Sam and Dean knew, with Sam making notes along the way, Lily paused and frowned, her fingers moving to fidget with a pen on the table.

"She kept saying we shared so much."

"Me too!" Rose exclaimed. "She said we were alike."

Dean frowned, not liking the sound of that one bit. "Alike how?"

"I don't know," Rose said, with a helpless shrug. "She didn't say. But she was really certain about it."

"She was obsessed with blood too," Lily added. "Talking about our blood and the blood in the cave..."

Sam's head snapped up at this and Daisy saw Dean stiffen at his brother's reaction.

"What about the cave?" Sam demanded. Lily and Rose exchanged a glance but it was Rose who answered, her voice hesitant.

"She said the cave was made from our blood." She motioned to Lily. “Ours and theirs.”

Sam frowned again, jotting that down and circling it to make sure he came back to it. That definitely needed further looking into.

When Rose spoke next her voice was tentative, halting, and Daisy knew she didn't like what she was going to say.

"She seemed to think...well she implied she and her sister were my real family and I should join them."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, sure, like that's going to happen."

"She did something to me too," Rose added even more nervously, making everyone stop and look at her. "To my powers."

Dean and Erin both let out startled questions at the same time and Rose knotted her hands together.

"She said she fixed whatever Aine did to me." Erin frowned in concern and the scowl on Dean's face deepened. Everyone started talking at once then. Everyone seemed to have an opinion and there was a lot of concern being voiced in very loud voices while Rose just sat back and let them speak, as was her way. Daisy sent her a look of commiseration.

* * *

 

"You might have mentioned that earlier," Dean said later when they were alone and Rose looked at him with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry. It just didn't seem the most important thing going on..."

Dean rolled his eyes at that which Rose ignored.

"Cas said I seemed OK." Of course as soon as some of the chaos calmed down Erin had requested Cas to check on Rose's powers. He'd been positive, saying they seemed less out of order. It was decided by Erin to try cutting the potion down to once a day, still giving Rose some support till her other power was controlled but cutting it back enough so that it shouldn't make her tired.

Dean grunted, an unhappy acknowledgement and Rose sighed.

"Yeah, so about that other power...we need to talk," Dean said, dropping down onto their bed. He looked tired, Rose thought. She hated how hard this all must be on him. She sat down beside him and looked at him expectantly. "Remember I mentioned knowing someone I thought could help?"

Rose nodded. “The king of hell, right?”

"Well yeah, he wants to meet you." Rose simply nodded again, this not seeming unreasonable to her. "And he uh," Dean's hand came up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes on the floor. "He wants you to bake for him."

Rose's eyes widened as she took that in. She hadn't expected that.

"Well, that's different," she said finally and Dean glanced up to find Rose looked much less upset about this than he was.

"Yeah, he's a special one. Look, Rose, if I thought there was anyone else who could help..."

"You would put me with them," Rose filled in. "I get that."

"Exactly," Dean said, with a sigh of relief. "And wherever we do this I'll be there with you, OK?"

Rose smiled at that. Of course he would be. She wouldn't expect any less.

* * *

"So, wait the king of hell is who Dean thinks can help you?"

Daisy glanced at her oldest sister, hearing the note of disbelief there. Oh, she wasn't going to like that one bit, Daisy knew. Of course if Dean thought it was the best idea he had to be sure it was safe. Daisy glanced at Rose next, easily seeing the look of acceptance on her face. Dean said it was OK so Rose took it as fact. Daisy smiled from her spot at the table. She could watch both her sister's reaction to this conversation from here, which was always interesting. Both were so reactive. Daisy pulled her feet up onto the seat next to her and settled in, ready for the soap opera to play out in front of her.

Rose nodded, either missing or ignoring the tone in Lily's voice. Her back was to Lily as she was putting away a pot. Dean had cooked tonight so it was the girl's turn to wash up. So far Daisy had gotten away with just clearing the table and until someone bothered her to do more she didn't plan on moving.

"I guess he has power over other demon's or something," Rose offered.

"Oh, yeah that's great. Just who you should be friends with."

Rose frowned as she turned back to face Lily.

"We're not becoming friends, Lily."

Lily snorted. "Right, like you can help yourself? Knowing you he'll be invited to Thanksgiving dinner next year too." She plunged her hands back into the soapy water in front of her, sending up a cloud of bubbles.

"I just want to get my powers controlled," Rose said calmly and Daisy could see her trying to ease Lily's concerns. "I'm not looking to be buddies." Lily didn't respond aside from a disbelieving look she sent Rose's way. "I've got enough to handle without adding some demon king to my list of friends."

Still Lily didn't respond, rinsing the last few plates off and putting them onto the drying rack. She let the water drain and then dried her hands off, leaning back against the sink and watching Rose put the dishes away. Finally she sighed and spoke.

"Look, I just know you and you tend to think everyone has some goodness in them." Lily bit her lip and Daisy could sense her real unease. "I just want you to be careful and I don't know, maybe guarded for the first time in your life?"

Rose put down the dish towel and came towards Lily, pulling her into a reassuring hug. "I'm going to be careful, Lil, I swear. And Dean will be there, OK? I'm not walking into this situation blind you know."

Lily let herself be comforted by the hug, even while her worries were still front and center in her mind.

"You think Days really thinks she's being sneaky over there?" she said finally, after easing back from the hug and shooting a glance the blonde's way.

Rose giggled. "Oh, sure she thinks we forgot she was there."

"Hey!" Daisy said. "I can hear you, you know."

"Well duh," Lily shot at her.

"I'm just doing what you taught me," Daisy said with a grin.

"Oh yeah, brat?" Lily said. "And what's that?"

Daisy stood, tossing her curls over her shoulder.

"Get away with whatever you can."

Daisy sauntered out of the kitchen with her sister's laughs ringing in her ears. That was how she wanted to leave them. She didn't need them to know she had her own concerns about the setup Dean had worked out with Crowley. Daisy could watch and listen too, and for now that's what she planned to do.

* * *

In talking to the women at the local church at Christmas Eve service and then another at the fair Rose had found there was a need for a baker. The local church took part in several different bazaars in the surrounding area in the Winter months and were always looking for someone willing to prepare goods. They were even willing to offer up the kitchen in the County Services building for her use. When Rose mentioned this it had struck Dean as a perfect location for the meeting with Crowley. No way was he inviting him into the bunker kitchen.

One phone call later (Which Crowley miraculously answered. Funny how he was great at picking up calls when he wanted something.) and they were all set.

So, a few days later found Dean and Rose in said kitchen. Rose took stock of everything, noting the location of all the utensils and necessary appliances, then took a deep breath.

"Hey, you nervous?" Dean asked, slipping his arms around her waist.

Rose sighed, leaning back against him. "A little," she admitted. She’d been fine until this morning and then the fact that she was meeting with the king of hell had hit her. I mean, who even knew there was such a thing? When Rose pictured hell she just imagined some chaotic place, nothing so orderly that there was someone in charge of the day to day running of things.

"I get that," Dean said. "But I'll be right here. See?" He nodded towards a table in the corner, just a few steps from the kitchen. "I'll have my eyes on you the entire time. You won't be alone with him, I promise."

Rose hesitated, then gave voice to her biggest fear. "It's just all the demons I've met, they've been pretty mean and scary." She stopped herself from rolling her eyes at herself. She sounded like a scared kid. "And now I'm going to be hanging out in a kitchen with one."

"I thought you'd have explained to the girl that I'm much more than a common, run of the mill demon," a smooth, accented voice from behind Rose said and she stopped herself from jumping by sheer force of will. Instead she made herself turn slowly to face the owner of the voice.

The same man she'd seen at the fair was standing there in an equally well tailored suit. His dark eyes caught her looking the suit over and seemed to glimmer with pleasure as he smiled at her. He’d taken in her appreciation for his clothes and returned the same as he glanced at her outfit – from the floral dress she wore - a particular favorite of hers for the perfect fit - to the perfectly matched shoes all the way to the bracelet on her wrist where his eyes lingered a moment. His eyes rose to meet hers then, and with a raised eyebrow he returned her admiration. Rose found herself smiling.

"A demon's a demon," Dean muttered gruffly, not having missed the interaction between the two. "Crowley just has nicer manners and a better grasp of the bigger picture than the rest of the black eyed bunch."

"Aw, Dean, the flattery," Crowley chortled. "You do know how to dish it out."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, yeah, Rose this is Crowley, Crowley this is Rose. Now can we get on with it?"

Crowley took one of Rose's hands in his and brushed a quick kiss across her knuckles and for a moment Dean considered just stabbing the black eyed son of a bitch. But then he remembered why they needed him and took a deep breath.

So, with a last kiss to Rose and a warning glare tossed Crowley's way he settled in at the table. He watched Crowley wave a hand expansively and it took Dean a minute to realize it had gone silent. He could see Crowley's lips moving but no sound was coming forth. Dean was back on his feet in a second and by Rose's side in another. Here he could hear the two of them perfectly.

"What the hell, Crowley?" he demanded and Crowley looked at him innocently. "What's with the silence spell or whatever?"

"I said I wanted to talk to the lady," he said, motioning to Rose. "And as entertaining as you are, you weren't invited to this social gathering." Crowley sighed long-sufferingly at Dean's scowl and when he spoke it was in a patient tone one usually reserved for a grumpy toddler. "I need to get to know _her_ , Dean, not you. If you're in the conversation it won't be the same."

Dean's scowl only grew and he started to tell Crowley just what he could do with this plan. But then Rose put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him soothingly.

"It's fine, Dean," she said. "Really. You can see us and if I need you I know you're there."

Dean searched her eyes, trying to make sure this is what she really wanted. Finally, convinced she was OK even if he wasn't happy he fixed Crowley with another glare.

"If I find out you're trying anything..."

"I wouldn't dare," Crowley promised in a sincere tone that set Dean's teeth on edge. But with one more questioning glance at Rose that she returned with a firm head nod of her head he went back to the table, dropping down in a chair and keeping his eyes fixed on the two in front of him. He didn't plan on letting either out of his sight.

To all appearances the day was non-eventful. Rose made mini loaves of some kind of sweet bread while Crowley took a seat on a kitchen stool and watched her, an intrigued expression on his face. From what Dean could see he was being perfectly charming, earning smiles and a few soft laughs from Rose. He left when the bread was cooled and Rose was cleaning up the kitchen, a few small loaves in his possession. At that point Dean made his way back into the kitchen proper and took up the stool Crowley had been sitting in.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Dean asked as Rose wiped the counters down and generally cleaned up. Rose shrugged and Dean frowned. “Hey, no don’t just give me that. Is he…can you do this?” Rose paused her movement for a moment and seemed to think before she simply nodded. Dean frowned and started to push her for an answer but Rose stopped him.

“Can you just let me finish up here first? We can talk about this in the car?” Dean nodded and Rose was silent as she finished up.

Once they were in the car and on the road Dean glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “OK we’re in the car. Now talk to me, Princess.”

It was Rose’s turn to sigh. She looked down at her hands and seemed to gather her words before speaking. “It’s just weird. I mean, I feel like I’m putting on a cooking show for a demon.”

Dean made a face, knowing she wasn’t far from right. “Yeah, it’s different, I’ll give you that.”

“It’s just not what I ever thought I’d be doing,” Rose said. “And I’m not complaining,” she was quick to add, lest Dean thought she didn’t appreciate the effort he’d put in to get Crowley to help. “I know you went out of your way to set this up and hopefully it will work and all but it’s just weird.”

“You can complain,” Dean offered. “I get it’s weird, I really do but it’s the only thing I could think of.”

“I know,” Rose said and then was silent for a moment, her fingers picking at the fabric of her dress. “It’s also really weird to just be talking with a demon after having every other one I met try and kill me.”

Dean gave a snort of laughter at that. “Yeah, Crowley’s more about the long game.” He hesitated, not wanting to scare her but feeling the need to add, “Don’t trust him too much though, OK? I mean he’s still a demon. Yeah, he’s helped us out before but he’s still a demon and he has no problem stabbing anyone in the back to save himself.”

Rose nodded and Dean gave a sigh of relief. He felt himself smile when Rose moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.  She wasn’t shutting herself off, she was talking to him, coming to him for comfort. He could handle this.

“Let’s go home and hole up in our room,” he suggested and got a hum of approval in response. “Watch some TV, cuddle.”

Rose smiled. “Did you just suggest cuddling?” she teased lightly.

“Yeah, well don’t tell anyone,” Dean said gruffly.

“Your secrets safe with me,” Rose assured him.

* * *

"So, Rose, it's been awhile," Will said, smiling at Rose from the laptop screen. "How have things been?"

It _had_ been awhile, with all the upheaval of the last few weeks. God, that was getting to be a normal thing, Rose thought. Then again, could upheaval become normal? She guessed it could. She'd almost stopped being surprised by it now.

"Well, that's a lot," Will said gently when Rose had given him the latest update. "You said you're all physically OK after this latest run in with the demon sisters?" Rose nodded. "Good, that's good." Will paused, his eyes roaming over her face in that way that Rose knew he was trying to gauge how she really was. "Let's discuss these meetings with uh, what did you say the demon's name was?"

"Crowley," Rose supplied. "And he's king of hell. If you just call him a demon he'll be sure to point that out to you."

From the wry smile on Rose's face Will had to assume Crowley was quite the colorful character.

"Right," he said, returning her smile. "King of hell, got it. How is that going?" He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his coffee and waiting for Rose's response.

Rose sighed, pulling one leg up under herself. She was in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with lyrics about tapping at windows that Will happened to know were from a Broadway musical thanks to Ellie. Rose seemed to be taking her time with this question so much so that Will finally felt the need to verbally nudge her. "Rose?"

"It's going OK I guess," she said hesitantly. It had been a few weeks now that she had been meeting Crowley while she baked. He'd assured Dean he needed a little time with her before they actually did anything with her powers. Rose knew Dean was frustrated by this and Rose wasn't exactly thrilled either but it wasn't like they had much of a choice.

"He's very chatty," she said now. "And I feel like as much as he's trying to get to know me, he's also digging, looking for information he can use to his advantage." Rose frowned, fidgeting with her hair which hung in one long braid today. "I mean, he hasn't actually said anything but it's just a feeling I have."

"And you should listen to that feeling," Will assured her. "I'm sure you know this is a precarious situation you're in and I know Dean's aware of that." Rose wondered curiously at his words just how much Dean spoke to Will on his own. "You're right to be cautious."

They wrapped things up not long after that, Will reaffirming their appointment at the end of the week. Rose was down to two appointments a week now and Will had a feeling they would be down to one pretty quickly. Rose was doing well.

"Can I ask how Sadie is doing?" Rose asked before Will could sign off. She'd suggested to Jody in her letter that Sadie might want to talk to someone and offered Will as an option. She hadn't checked in, wanting to give the girl space to heal and adjust on her own, especially since as far as Rose knew she was still upset with her.

Will smiled at her now. "She's doing well," he assured her. "Obviously I can't give you details but I feel safe in saying she's healing and making progress." Will then suggested Rose contact Jody about a possible visit. That brought a bright smile to Rose's face.

"I'll call Jody and see what we can set up," Dean assured Rose as soon as she told him what Will had proposed. "I'm sure we can get up there sometime this week or next." Dean was gifted with the same bright smile Will had gotten.

Rose drifted off to sleep that night looking forward to the meeting Dean had set up with Jody for next week. Sure she had training and another meeting with Crowley before then but training with Sam was getting a bit easier and meeting with Crowley wasn't horrible, just weird. She fell asleep in a happy frame of mind.

Rose didn't realize she'd drifted off to sleep. One minute she was in bed, drifting off and the next she was on her feet. She was in her and Dean's room still, but on her own, perusing her closet trying to decide what to wear when a soft voice caught her attention. A voice from the hallway calling her name. She ventured towards it figuring whoever it was, if they were a resident of the bunker, they had surely seen her in her pajamas before. The hallway was empty aside from a weird sort of fog that clung to the floor, obscuring Rose's feet as she made her way down to the main room of the bunker. Rose frowned at the fog, unable to figure out where it was coming from or what it was doing there. She shook her head, ignoring it as she moved on.

She had yet to find a single person, though the soft call of her name continued as she made her way into the library. There on the table was a female she didn't recognize. Her hair was of a similar shade to Rose's own, streaming down her back, the dark green of the long dress she wore making her hair appear as red as blood. She was perched on one of the tables, her gaze locked on something in front of her. As Rose inched up close to her she had a strong sense of foreboding, certain she didn't want to see what the woman was so focused on.

Even with that feeling it came as a shock when Rose saw the body of Dean sprawled out on the table, his eyes cloudy as blood poured from his throat. There on the table next to him was a large silver knife, it’s handle encrusted with rubies, it’s end point covered in blood. The woman slowly raised her eyes from Dean’s body to smile at Rose proudly.

"Good job, sister," she purred in a husky voice. "He never even saw it coming."

Rose backed up in horror, her back hitting a shelf as she hastened to distance herself from the horror on the table. She backed up so quickly in fact she almost lost her footing as her back his the shelf, and she scrambled to find her footing.

"I...I didn't do that," she protested and the woman just laughed merrily.

"Of course you did, Rose." Her smile stretched across her face, pulling her skin tight as her eyes flashed black. "What else did you think you were here for?"

Rose woke with a start, her heart pounding frantically in her chest. Wisps of the dream were just at the edges of her mind but they disappeared as she tried to grasp them. All she could remember was the terror and the desire to reassure herself that Dean was OK. Her eyes ran over his sleeping form next to her and her hands soon joined them, letting the solidness of him comfort her. Dean woke up as her hands brushed gently over his throat.

"Rosie?" he asked in a voice rough with sleep. "You OK?"

Rose didn't respond aside from pressing herself tightly to him and sealing her lips to his. The next morning when Sam commented on how tired he looked he’d just shoot his brother a lascivious grin and at this time of the night, barely awake, all Dean did was let himself fall deep into the woman in his arms. He didn't question it, just gave Rose what she seemed to need. But later on the next day he’d wonder on her desperation. It certainly wasn’t the first time one of them had woken the other, looking for touch and affection. But this had seemed different, Dean would realize later. Rose had almost seemed scared, as if needing to reassure herself he was there, in one piece, still by her side. But Rose didn’t mention it so Dean let it slide, chalking it up to emotions.

As for Rose she didn’t remember the dream in any detail. She knew there had been a dream, had remembered being fearful but she brushed it aside. Compared to the dreams she’d had in the past it was nothing and there was so many more important things to focus on. After all, what harm can a dream do?

**Author's Note:**

> So there we have it - Lily's prophecy.
> 
> Feedback welcomed!


End file.
